Lightning fast Cancellara storms to Tour de France prologue win

SWITZERLAND'S Fabian Cancellara blew away the rest of the peleton to claim victory in the prologue of the Tour de France and become the first rider of the 2009 race to don the yellow jersey.

The 28-year-old clocked 19:32 minutes in the 15.5km time trial in Monaco, taking the stage by a full 18 seconds over Spain's Alberto Contador, widely tipped as the race favourite.

Cancellara, who was also victorious in the prologue in 2007, was fourth last to go and saw Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins set the standard, coming home in 19:51m.

But Cancellara, the reigning Olympic time trial champion and two-time world champion, was a class apart and romped home a full 19 seconds ahead of the Brit.

Contador, riding for Astana, was next to challenge the lead and while he could not get near Cancellara's time, he edged inside Wiggins by a second.

The Spaniard is not known for his time trialling but he was beaten only by a superb effort from the Swiss, adding currency to the debate Contador is the favourite for the overall classification.

"I am in good form, I now hope to stay at that level," said Contador. "The atmosphere within the team is good. We must work together to win this Tour de France. Of course, I would like to have another jersey."

Australia's Cadel Evans, who has finished le Tour second for the last two years, also produced a good performance and is currently fifth, 23 secs back.

Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong, making his comeback to the Grand Tour after a four-year absence, lies tenth, 40 secs behind and still well on contention.

The biggest loser of the day was Russia's Denis Menchov, who despite winning the Giro d'Italia earlier this year, was a full 90 secs down on Cancellara.

Tomorrow sees the peleton head from Monaco to Brignoles in a 187-km relatively flat stage, giving GB sprinter Mark Cavendish his first real chance of capturing his first stage win.